Why are Koreans so slim? (from a Korean's perspective) 

Would that be Tuesday 7pm US PST ?

you re just talkin about kpop idols here they re the only ones who re slim and therefore just a minority the reality the majority of koreans are overweight

using Wedny's pic from the time when she was clearly suffering is disgusting , shame on you

​@@basic.yousra2914 is called sarcopenia, the majority of Asian population are "skinny fat" with unhealthy body composition of high body fat percentage, and low skeletal muscle mass plus bone density. They can still have low or normal body mass index (BMI) for a slim or skinny built, but not muscular, strong, powerful, or anything indicated for a high basal metabolic rate.

@@DomFortress I'm surprised you didn't talk about genetics. Asians on the average are smaller built and shorter than westerners. European countries also have healthier diets than Americans but they are generally bigger than Asians.

Exactly So many buildings on hillside, especially schools and universities

While in Turkey people eat healthy (at least the older Generation) there's no physical activity. Many drive everywhere with the car, similar to America. But this is the case for the countryside. People in the cities walk way more and don't necessarily even have a car.

I've had the exact opposite experience. I actually see more overweight people in the countryside. Seeing overweight people in Korea is more rare than in other parts of the world, however, when I see them, they are usaully in small countryside towns, and it's in the bigger cities where I don't really see it. I've been trying to figure out why that is. I don't really know, but i'm starting to think it has something to do (just a theory) with the pressure Anna mentioned? In the country side , people work in farms and small town businesses etc and , I think people feel like because these jobs are not big time careers that you seek in the cities, there is maybe less incentive to play up the appearance, so maybe there is less incentive to diet overall? Whereas the cities have everyone competing for the same jobs and their is this social expecation to look a certain way? It's just a theory, but this is something that has had me curious fora while .

It seems to be very common in Asian countries for elderly to do daily exercise in the park. It's very wholesome and also means they won't spend their older years in solitude

​@@softerhaze true

We also don’t walk much in America unlike Korea because America is built to drive everywhere. That’s coded into law by single use zoning regulations separating homes from shops.

There’s also the fact we use seed oils in America in all the food, but in Korea they use more animals fats (butter, lard, tallow, ghee) or healthy Sat. Fat oils like avocado and coconut oils.

Food is a lot more processed here as well, so you have to be a lot more aware and conscious of the quality of food you are purchasing and what all of the ingredients and components are in our food.

This right here proves that it’s not about how much you eat. It’s just in American FDA allows all sort of terrible ingredients in foods. Like someone above mentioned seed oils. If you try stations away from seed oils you will quickly learn how it’s in everything. Even in “healthy foods.” The easiest was for Americans to lose weight is to go abroad for a time.

it's a little bit of a misconception that eating "healthier food" vs "unhealthy food" will make you gain/lose weight... it really just boils down to calories eaten VS calories burned. I read a research paper done some years ago by a uni professor who ate nothing but junk food (as I recall things like Twinkies, donuts, cookies, etc) and vitamins to make up for the lack of nutrition in the junk, but kept his daily calories mathematically low enough to lose weight. He consistently lost weight over months of the test just as expected, despite only eating complete junk food.

Dammmmmmnnnn

As a Korean teenager,I do think its something a lot of people should recommend trying. Our eating styles/habits are actually very easy if you are willing to put commitment into it.

If you like to eat things related to vegetables, I recommend you come to Vietnam to try it once. Here we have a lot of dishes related to vegetables. Just a bowl of normal noodles that you often see in Korea is enough to eat a whole basket of all kinds of green vegetables. It can be seen that celebrities like Rosé really like Vietnamese food

losing 15kg in 2 months is not healthy..... that is too much too fast. not something to be proud of!

@@GorgieClarissa Everyone's body is different sweetheart!

😂

I got into the habit of immediately skipping the first 2-3min of every video... it's almost always as you say. Useless rambling.

It's like those recipes that have to tell you all about the heart felt trueness of the ingredients or some such bollocks. Put a sock in it pet and tell me how much onion I need 😂

That little girl sounds so cute

@@chrystianaw8256 she was! This happened nearly 20 years ago but really left an impression on me. I guess it wasn’t all that long in the past that we could only eat more locally and seasonally. Not like these days where we can eat whatever we want year round like it’s nothing special.

I'm not saying that the girl wasn't cute or anything, but literally today I was so excited to go home, because I had bought strawberries and I love strawberries haha. I'm from Germany and an adult lol.

@@anna-5104 haha 😂 you are cute, too! It’s not a competition. 😛🏆 Strawberries are delicious, indeed! My daughter loves them so much, she could probably eat her weight in strawberries.

@@anna-5104 I love strawberries too💕

Interesting.

I agree, I always eat alot when I visit Korea or Japan (it's basically food heaven, you want to try everything), but because of the sheer amount of walking I do in their cities, I never gain weight after my holidays there. if you don't take taxis there and rely entirely on their subways or buses (as many locals do), it's easily 10 - 12 hours of walking everyday.

and you see them have many small/medium portions of lots of different food, it appears as though they eat more than westerners, but I think they're just less sedentary and places are more walkable.

@@Ste4247 you walk all over in Japan because it’s built to walk. America is built to drive because it has strict single use zoning that separates homes and shops making use drive everywhere.

I find that even though you eat more in terms of volume, the food often has far less calories and is far less processed which can make it easier to burn off as a source of fuel, rather than your body trying to figure out wtf to do with transaturated fats or flavour E751 lol 😂

Бред какой-то. Меньше есть чипсов, фаст-фуда, газировки. Едят вредную еду типа рамён. И зачем есть так много, полных мужиков в Корее полно,но хангуки следят только за женщинами. Их в Корее и без этого мало. Мне повезло, я родилась в другой стране, хоть и кореянка. И вполне могу себе позволить не быть идеальной.

That's not being aware of the health benefits. That's an ingrained eating disorder.

I view calories like money. So if a small non filling meal is high in calories, to me that’s like buying a Tshirt for 300 dollars. So I have a daily budget that matches with my daily activities. I make sure to not go over my budget and still remain full

Had the same thing happened when I made smores with the kids.

to be honest i think it is sad that kids as young as 3rd and 4th grade are worried about calories. there is absolutely such a thing as too health conscious, and i think it should be their parents worrying about what their kids eat not the kids - children should be able to enjoy food and enjoy their childhood without such worries. if i heard a child as young as 3rd grade saying they were nervous to eat a treat because of the calories in the butter it was cooked in, i would be worried about them developing an eating disorder when they are older

wow

wow you married a whole family!

@@margotmargot4426 When you get married that's how it goes. You get in-laws.

Just drink a lot of water I’m from Korea and we walk a lot

western countries do figure out how to do yummy vegetables dishes, but it is less spread. Try some Vegan or Vegetarian restaurants and there you have plenty of choices. It is more proeminent in cities rather than the coutryside, that is still way more of a meat oriented cutlure

that is basically the only reason.

As a Chinese woman I totally agree. I’m 30 My mom would still comment on my choice of clothes like: you shouldn’t wear sleeveless stuff because you arms are big. Don’t show your armpits because you have supernumerary breast. It’s not that she’s controlling me, those comments are just not offensive and crossing the lines for her to speak out. Same goes to my calves, I grow up hearing lots of people suggesting me to get botox in my calves because they are too big. 😅

@@yifangong2331 totally can relate, im chinese too and it's just i feel like in the culture

​@@yifangong2331not me going to the gym 5 times a week to GROW my calves 😅

But Japanese are really slim. 😂😂( from a Chinese)

Да в Корее в такой жаре вы не съедите много

Wow!

I had like an older blonder version of her in the bed. She went hard on me and never spoke about anything you said in life . 😊

Really? I was in korea for 3 weeks and gained 8 kgs from the food.

@@happyjolly77able maybe you ate takeaway/unhealthy food?

Go for it! Start with the basic, simple, recipes first. Admittedly, depending on where you are in the U.S., some of the ingredients for Korean dishes can be hard to find, but it's worth it once you do (*cough*Amazon*cough* - fair warning, it can be pricey, to start - especially the traditional sauces/mixes, but it's not like you'll use a whole tub/bottle/packet of something for one serving). It's so good and so filling, yet you can actually eat quite a lot without worrying about the calories as much. Just remember to get active. Join a gym, buy a bicycle, or just walk...whatever works best for you. YOU GOT THIS!!!

I guess it's "vanity" because of the culture. Most of the time they have to care like for example their need for double eyelids, picture included for resume etc. Personal opinion of looking at BMI as a standard, Korean certainly doesn't look healthy just because they're skinny. The girls are taller but they culturally expect and want to be below 50kg or they feel ashamed. Same with Japanese girls. You see the girls like that chopsticks leg kind of look. Looking at the BMI, most of them are underweight. 🥲

I totally agree, the Korean beauty standards and culture are very toxic, especially for women. And if you are a little different the treatment from the society is very harsh and can lead to many mental issues. That’s not enough talked about in my opinion, unfortunately.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I worry about the toxicity that being thin can be.

yea she mentioned that

I'm so used to that so when my parents call me round face or piggy, It doesn't really faze me. But instead I look at the mirror and do see how skinny fat I look. I'm no where near obese, I'm just average weight even in korea. But the way I eat, and not exercise, it resulted me being skinny fat and bloated looking. Honestly, if no one is there to criticize my current condition and the way I eat, I would probably be unhealthy and die early. I already have abnormally high cholesterol for my age because of the way I eat and not exercise. I think instead of just thinking your family and close ones are shit talking you, it's better to think that they're saying it for your own good.

When I travel to Europe, I see instantaneously the difference in food quality....plus they still indulge in pastries/wine and are healthier than most Americans, they also walk more, yes the weather helps but still, the approach to health is a breath of fresh air compared to, in my opinion, the cheap and lazy way in America..and if you want to eat healthy, it is very pricey

SAME thing happened to me. I travelled to Seoul for four weeks and came back 15lbs lighter. I walked in the city often and the food was so filling but just overall healthier. Even when we ate out, which was quite often since we stayed at an airbnb.

american food is poisoned ong

same!

Nobody is responsible for your health but you. So forget what other people think. If they are not supportive of you eating healthier and making better life choices they should not be your friends in the first place. Friends need to build up not tear down. Love you pfp btw.

Omg the shame for healthier choices is so true. I am a thinner person who works out. I like to eat healthy because I feel it's good for my body. But people love to make comments about how I don't indulge enough in pastries and desserts. I've had older women make rude comments about how thin I am (I'm not unhealthy, so it's weird)

yeah one of my friends helped pushed me into a downward spiral with my health tbh. I used to have more self control and now I'm eating more and more after they kept having me buy them food and trying to split it so we'd both pay less on food. I used to rarely drink soda but they kept wanting to meet up for coffees and smoothies and asking why I didn't want to drink at restaurants. Now I'm having soda a lot more often and constantly looking for different desserts every day. Not entirely blaming my friend, but with my mental health just worsening and all this stress I've been facing and food manages to make me a little happier, it's become hard to say no.

I'm around the same age as you and I have the same issue. Even at work people will make comments about how healthy I eat or how little I eat. It's annoying as hell. I'm not trying to be better than anyone. I'm just trying take care of myself and live a healthy life.

@@stina51093you beat me to this comment! I’m so tired of people commenting on my healthy lunches as work as if I’m trying to be better than them. Not even close…

Legit, make exercise part of your day without thinkin

In Latin America we do the same 😅

@@gloriosounicornioescwas going to comment the same thing xD I thought it was something only done in Latino homes

In Italy too 😂

Did you eat less than before bcz it didnt fit you??

what's it like? i've been thinking about visiting korea one day when i travel but i always hear about the racism there

@@wxndaz Youll be fine just be chill😀

@@wxndaz It’s okay. As a tourist you will definitely have fun. I live here and it has its ups and downs. Racism is everywhere don’t let it prevent you from seeing the world💗

As a texan...yes our resturants are insane. But thats why I started a garden. nothing like a tomato fresh off the vine.

@@belisebibi2399 You make an excellent point, its usually the attitude that ones have that can determine how the experience would be, one should be willing to go out of the comfort zone when they travel to a new country and keep an open mind

Same. I feel like their transportation system is an urban planner's dream come true!

Yep. It sounds silly but I do believe use of chopsticks and smaller bowls for servings also has a big impact. The one thing we do talk about is serving sizes here in Euro-America, but it has also been pointed out that eating slower gives your body time to catch up and realise it's full. I have no doubt using chopsticks slows down your eating rate, no matter how good you are with them, because you simply can't shovel food into your mouth the way you can with a fork or spoon.

Same, but maybe she meant it happens less in the UK/US compared to Korea? In those countries most restaurants assume you are getting your own plate unless you tell them. (Or do it on the down low when the restaurant does not allow sharing) My family and friends share all the time. We would even consult with each other to make sure we are not ordering the same thing. But there is always one guy in our group (usually dad) that say no don't touch my plate and make fun of us for sharing. 😆

@Carol I think it depends on where you live and the type of restaurant. I'm American and not Asian. All of my friends and family share, but if you look at our table you may not notice. Sometimes only 2 or 3 of us want to share out of the group and sometimes we have divide the food on our own plate and put it on each other's plate. It doesn't look like we are sharing unless you saw us do that.

@@IshtarNike Absolutely agree that eating slowly is effective in preventing overweight. But, when was in military, I used chopsticks but always ate much faster than my US colleagues who used forks. Even if use chopsticks, people with rush temper like me eat fast anyway. I almost „drink“ foods.

That is true. As an American caucasian male, what's on my plate is mine and I always finish my plate. If someone took food off my plate, it would be like someone trying to kiss my wife in front of me. There would be a problem.

Depends on where you live in America, in my current neighborhood I only drive to the store once a week, to the surf spot since I don't have a rack for my bike, or the rare times I have to leave the neighborhood. However I've also lived places where I had to drive pretty much everywhere, so it varies.

I don't know about population density. I think it's more a matter of the way our cities and communities are designed. Americans valorize space and size. They often build their houses outside the city in satellite communities (suburbs). They prefer to drive their own cars rather than take the public transportation system. Because some often choose to live in suburbs or rural communities, there is a need to drive your car from place to place. In many other countries (Asian come to mind), people live in small apartments located in the city. Instead of having satellite communities, the city just spreads out. Public transportation is convenient and necessary. One of the advantages of this style of life is that, like you said, everything is right there--within walking distance or a public transportation line.

@@counterculture10 America for the most part is not very pedestrian friendly and is designed for constant car use. Comparatively in European cities most amenities are within walking distance with public transport fairly easily fulfilling this need when they are not. I have lived in Eastern Europe until 19 and I have been in Western Europe for the last decade and I have never owned a car nor do I have a driver's license. I just can't justify the cost when I haven't needed it for work or living.

@@REDinitial I agree with you.

“Naturally” skinny don’t eat much, as far as I’ve seen.

@@icingcake Exactly. The diversity isn't in the metabolism, but in how hungry you are and how much you move/jiggle.

@@megand6233 agreed 💯!

Genetics. They are not only skinny. They are short. I worked with Asian people. My boss was a half of head smaller than me. His wife was in the measures like my daughter ih primary school. Very short people. And by the way, Somalians are the one of most tolliest and skinny nation on the World. What they eat?

Duh 🙄

Don’t they have like the most cases of ano or something ?

@Kanaphan from what I see but the data is a bit old a lot of south east Asian countries tank in the top 5. SK being I think 4th but Japan 1st. Hong Kong and Singapore also make the list.

yess 100% people called my girlfriend fat when i went to korea it was crazy because she is 50kg and 5'0, she's a little overweight but shes been recovering from a very severe case of anorexia and i thought it was so rude for people to be rude about her weight without knowing anything about her.

Yes, there's diet culture, but lifestyle helps, such as walking (most people don't have cars) and healthier meals. Same reasons why Europeans tend to be skinnier than Americans.

@SK-fy8dl true but just came back from Korea and there a lot of walking and many meals are healthy but I noticed a lot of smokers which isn't healthy and there's access to a lot of street food and many drink alcohol. This was said to me by many native Koreans so I wouldn't say their lifestyle is the best and same for some parts of Europe. Americans can do better but those that care about health and appearance will and those that don't will not. That's my opinion though so we can disagree. Plus loving in the US some states are vast and big and is easier to walk everywhere if you have a good metro system or things are close but that's not feasible in all areas. I prefer metro and public transportation but hard to have where I live.

I also think Korean people have smaller bone structures, as someone who's pretty slim and looks up to the K-beauty standard and body ideal, I find that a lot of, at least models and Idols, have smaller bone structures than mine, so that likely contributes :)

Metabolisms is a key factor and China, Korea and Japan take a lot of green tea, wich is great to faster metabolism and also some seaweeds as nori are very good to improve your metabolism.

I don't think obesity is self-love

@@user-jx5ex1kr6l no matter the journey you’re currently on regarding your body and health, you should *always* love yourself no matter what ❤️

​@@user-jx5ex1kr6l and what about underweight 😉

Because it really is it's just not as outwardly and obvious...

I’m American and from Mexican descent and would never serve this to my son either. I wasn’t brought up this way as well. 😢

But Koreans aren't actually doing that well. More than 36% of Korean men are obese and more than 27% of Korean women are obese. According to the WHO Asians tend toward being skinny fat, so you hit overweight at a BMI of 23 and obesity at a BMI of 25, whereas the figures for "Europids" are 25 and 30 respectively. Your obesity rate is actually twice that of my own country of Denmark. Sure, you may look skinnier, but you're actually not.

​@@samvittighedsfuld7586interesting. Could you share the source article, please?

@@justmeagain7 search for "the Asian Pacific perspective: redefining obesity and its treatment". Also search for "Asia-Pacific bmi classification".

We have a rule in my family, anything 30 minutes away does not need the car. We’ve always taken nature and park walks for fun as kids (8-10 mile walks). Encouraged to have active hobbies or to have some form of exercise you like to do.

rice and beans are cheap everywhere, I think

Hi!! Could you share some roast veges recipes if you don't mind? I am starting to learn how to do that, and I hope to learn from you! Thank you!

Please put recipes, I dont think baking is bad, but most of the time for baking wheat or other flour used and consuming much of those is bad.. Cakes and cookies are high in calories , so basically its not baking but what you bake is bad.

If you roast the vegetables they lost a lot of their vitamins

@@Lucid.24 its that or not eating them so whatever

@@Lucid.24Maybe, but you still get other nutrients (especially fibre that keeps you full and your digestive tract moving along). Plus, for a lot of people cooked vegetables are more palatable than raw - and I’d argue it’s better to eat something you enjoy than something you don’t

Thank you!

They made it for you lot who need sugar.

인정.. 부정적인 모습도 제가 말하고 싶었던 것까지 다 말해버렸네요 그리고 외모지상주의 사회에서 살찐 사람은 집 밖으로 잘 나오지도 않는다는 점도 있습니다

Africans literally have more genetic diversity than the rest of the world combined. Bone sizes are vastly different. You get the shortest people and the tallest people in the world in Africa. I assume you're African-American.

My lazy American fast food is a salad, lol. That's why I've stayed thin into my 30's.

Yup. Exactly like she said in many cultures too even in the United States being overweight isn't acceptable. Korean weight standards are a huge reason.

Yup, this is the ultimate answer! Like in Korean society, even if they eat burgers and junk food all day, I'm sure they will still find their way to stay thin (like eating just one burger a day or something). It's because of how their society stresses so much on looks that's why! It's actually pretty toxic.

@@kodzuken1016 : Burgers aren't the end all and be all of food. If you're used to a culture with a diversity of food and cuisine; it's easy to bore of redundant meals or basic foods. I myself hardly crave hamburgers and seldom eat them.

@@kodzuken1016 How would that be toxic? Sure, the normalization of crash diet is toxic, but thats the case everywhere. Lets also not forget that the world also existed before the internet, and even then Koreans in general were always pretty thin. Even the US didnt even have close to the amount of obesity they do now. Allowing yourself to eat a burger, but realizing it is unhealthy and VERY high in calories and instead opting for just 1 burger in the day is in no way ''toxic''. Its learning what your body needs, and stopping yourself from ruining your health. Research has even shown that in America atleast people have no idea how many calories are in food, and guess 3x less then the actual amount. People obviously have no idea what they are eating, combine that with how unhealthy many in the west eat, and you get a mess. Koreans have healthier foods in general, a good balance of protein and carbs, and seems to more easily understand their caloric needs. The toxic part is the diet culture, which we have everywhere. I'd say its more toxic to normalize binging on food like people are doing in the west, then it is to maybe eat 1 burger in a day and know the limits. Lets also not forget Americans have had trends of wanting to stay slim, like the 90's thinness where people were extremely thin. Yet they still had pretty high obesity rates in the country and overweight rates. This shows that it isnt as simple as a country wanting to ''stay slim'', its the normalization and ease to find junkfood, no education around healthy food, ignoring calories and somehow seeing them as evil, and in general foods that are just high in calories and often lack fiber and especially veggies. Vegetables and fruit add fiber to your diet, help your digestion and also bulk up a meal by a LOT whilst having low cals. Korean diets also use a lot of sauces which do have calories, but because everything else is mainly veggies with some protein mixed in, it still remains well below average american meals. Lets also not ignore that almost all asian countries, including west asia, south asia, east asian and south east asia ALL have on average pretty low obesity rates. Most of these countries have diets where a good balance is provided of protein, vegetables and carbs, and clearly it works. Its not just Korea, and research even has shown that east-asians in specific have naturally lower BMI's. To lump all of these up under ''korean society stresses too much about looks and thats why they are skinny and toxic!" is not only ignorant but also factually incorrect. Y'all need to stop throwing everything under ''korean society toxic'', its getting absurd. Especially if your only example is a burger one, that just proves how koreans seem to know their food limits.

Yup, many have eating disorders. I don’t know she didn’t include this.

It's an example she's talking about God, and junk food is all over the world that's no excuse because your American, all Americans are the biggest in the world .

@@JulieIelasi-lt7yp We’re actually not. Several island nations have the highest rates of obesity in the world. America is number 10 on the list followed by the UK.

Asia is bigger than that ... Have you seen Indian food? Malay, Indonesian food are all extremely unhealthy - fatty, oily, greasy

Not to mention a lot of asians are open when it comes to talking about weight to a fault. There will always be that one aunt who often comments about your weight during family gatherings lmao From my experience, talking about diet and weight loss is less taboo here compared to talking ab the same topic to westerners.

​@@celineaureliaNo it isn't. Indian food isn't just butter chicken or tikka masala. No one here eats those on a regular basis. Our everyday diet consists of lots of veggies, pulses, legumes & grains/whole grains.

@@AB-ip2ct sure, your curries say otherwise

@@AB-ip2ct if not, why are indians generally fat after they get married?

Hey, hope you’re feeling better today ❤️

I agree with you this is video is toxic and why young girls have eating disorders.

I,m so sorry, hope you feel more confident about your body.❤

Of course it's never that simple, which is why she's speaking on Koreans being slim, since we do tend to eat more healthy whole foods as a family. Don't place your standards and life experiences next to different cultures if it leads to anything detrimental as everyone has different life experiences and cultural values, and I hope you can overcome and heal from your past trauma. Best of luck.

@@estherkang that’s exactly why I clarified our culture differences, and said I do think all her points are valid. From my experience when I was struggling, I would have just heard that part and the rest would have went in one ear and out the other. So I wanted to clarify that part for the random person who maybe needed to read that and take a breather and re watch her video and understand her points. Once again I still think all her points.

But no one was forcing you in the US to over eat or eat what was not healthy.. or stop exercising. I'm a petite American...I've never been overweight...born and raised here....I have chosen not to make unhealthy choices...and we do have plenty of wonderful choices....Including fattening food ....once in a while! All things in moderation.

This might be a bit off topic, but how does one not overeat when walking a lot/exercising? When I visited London not too long ago since I was constantly walking I was always hungry. If I do visit Korea one day I'll probably get more exercise than walking around London, so how does one prevent overeating when walking more than usual?

this is said really well

@@nikkinnom thank you kindly

Agreed! Perfectly said!

@@tazwee7223 Thank you very much

Perfectly put!

I agree

I agree, when I lived in Korea in the late 90's, a 35% overweight problem in korea would have been news worthy (as a bad thing).

Korea still has the lowest obesity rate in the world or the one of the lowest. And the majority of obese Koreans are male.

I really think it’s because their consumption of processed foods has increased greatly. It’s not as much as in Western nations but I feel like it has increased a lot compared to what it was before.

This is sadly a trend all over the world as healthier countries adopt a more American lifestyle, and eat more processed food. Then they start to have problems with obesity also.

The number of obese Korean males are twice the number of obese females. Yes the obesity rate in Korea rose but it’s only mainly in the male population more and more Korean females are becoming underweight.

Oh, yeah, for sure.